The son of the soldier William S. Shirley, he was born at
Marylebone in October 1900. He was educated at
Eton College, where he played for the college cricket and
Eton wall teams. From there he matriculated to
Pembroke College, Cambridge. his debut in
first-class cricket came at the age of 21 when he was studying at Cambridge, for the
Free Foresters against
Cambridge University at
Fenner's in 1922. In that same season, he debuted for
Hampshire against
Warwickshire at
Edgbaston in the
County Championship; his debut was to become one of the most extraordinary matches in County Championship history. Having made 223 in their first-innings, Warwickshire proceeded to bowl Hampshire out for only 15, with Shirley making a single run before he was dismissed by
Freddie Calthorpe; he was one of only three batsman to score any runs in the Hampshire innings. Forced to
follow-on, Hampshire made 521, with Shirley contributing 30 runs before he was dismissed by
John Fox. Set 309 for victory, Warwickshire were dismissed for 158 to give Hampshire a victory by 155 runs. Having been studying for a number of years at Cambridge, he began playing for
Cambridge University Cricket Club in 1924, making twelve first-class appearances; for Cambridge he took 29 wickets and for Hampshire he took 52. ==Colonial service and later life==